Swordmen win first Districts

November 21, 2003|BY STEVE FOLEY NEWS-REVIEW SPORTS WRITER

HARBOR SPRINGS - The monkey is finally off Harbor Light's back.

For many years, the Swordsmen have enjoyed fine regular seasons only to see their year end at the district level. In fact, Harbor Light has never won a girls' basketball district title, until Thursday night.

The Swordsmen took charge from the start en route to a convincing 62-29 victory over Mackinaw City at Harbor Springs High School.

"It gets the monkey off your back and usually, the first one is the hardest," an overjoyed Harbor Light coach Cliff Hass said. "It's been a long time coming. We've had some good teams and we've never won it and this year we have a good team and we've finally won it.

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"We're just very thankful."

The Swordsmen, 16-5, advance to a Class D regional against Cedarville, 17-4, 8 p.m., Monday, Nov. 24, at Newberry High School. The Trojans defeated Pickford, 61-39, to win their district on Thursday.

"We'll just take it one game at a time from here and hope for the best," Hass said.

That was the Swordsmen plan headed into Thursday's district final, as they erupted with a 16-0 run to take an 18-4 lead after one quarter.

"My biggest concern was that we beat them twice in the regular season and I thought we may be a little overconfident," Hass said. "But when I listened to the girls, I could tell they weren't overconfident. They were a little nervous and to me, that's a good thing."

Using solid rebounding and a strong transition game, the Swordsmen lead grew to 24-4 with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half and then hit 29 points, 38-9, by halftime.

"We would've had to have played our best basketball and they would've had to have been playing at their worst," Mackinaw City coach Paul Wallin said. "They're a good team. They have height, they have speed and they can shoot.

"We just came out with the plan of playing hard and taking it to them and maybe try to create a little chaos and perhaps get them thinking otherwise."

Harbor Light's lead grew to as much as 32 points in the second half.

"Usually, most games are decided by the team that gets the most easy baskets and we just tried to get as many as we could and seize those opportunities," Hass said. "We were able to do that."

The Swordmen controlled the boards and score at ease in transition. They collected 39 rebounds, including many on the offensive end.

"By halftime, they were beating us in transition and they were getting that quick outlet pass and scoring lay-ups," Wallin said. "They're a young team and that's what scares me. Cliff has them playing well."

"We just wanted to play our game," Fox said. "Our defense was pretty strong. It was fun. Our team unity has been really strong this year."

Also for the Swordsmen, freshman Hannah Hewitt added 14 points, eight assists and four steals.

"This feels so good," Hewitt said. "We didn't want to get too overconfident and I think we were ready, I think it was a mental thing for us more than a physical thing. We wanted to go really far this year."

Like Fox, Hewitt said she feels Harbor Light's team unity is a strong point.

"We have a lot of unselfishness on this team and a lot of unity," Hewitt said. "We don't care who scores the most points, we just all wanted to win a championship and to not be too overconfident."

Freshman Jessica Hass added 10 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for Harbor Light, while Sydney Kleinhenz came off the bench to add 10 points.

"Wow," said Harbor Light's lone senior, Kara Koester. "It's been a long time because last year I didn't play and this year coming back was so exciting and I'm glad that I did. I wouldn't have wanted to miss this for the world and it's exciting to know that we as a team have come this far and we'll be going to regionals finally.

"I'm excited."

Koester, who starts alongside Hewitt in the backcourt, said her biggest concern was that her team may take the game lightly, considering their regular-season success.

"We knew they were going to be ready to play," Koester said. "We didn't want to take them too lightly and we knew they were probably going to play their toughest game."

For the Comets, who close an 8-14 season, Meridith Neuman and Bethany Campbell scored five points each. The Comets will lose just one senior, Brett Sullivan, to graduation.

"Brett's has a great career with me and she's had to work so hard," Wallin said. "She's developed so much and she's as strong as an ox. I'm going to miss her as a person and as a coach.

"I have a lot coming back. I should be sitting pretty good next year, but I'm going to have a hard time competing against Harbor Light because they're such a good team. I wish them a lot of luck. They're representing our conference and we'll be rooting for them."

For Hass, who is in his seventh year as Harbor Light's coach, the victory came after many years of falling in the exact same situation.

"I'm really proud of the girls," Hass said. "Even though they're young, they came up big in a big situation. Sometimes with a young team you just hope they realize it's just another game and you have to keep playing."

For Koester, she's just glad to have to chance to continue to play in the postseason.

"I just really appreciate my coach and he's a super role model," Koester said emotionally. "He's just been a super great coach to me and he's helped our team so much this year."